United Nations-Brokered Conference Is Planned for Mid-November

NUSA DUA, Indonesia—The U.S. and Russia Monday stressed their determination to help press ahead with a United Nations-brokered conference planned for mid-November that aims to bring Syria's government together with opposition forces to end the country's conflict.

ENLARGE

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry testing a gesture on Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov along the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation in Bali, Indonesia, on Monday.
European Pressphoto Agency

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In a joint news conference following a bilateral meeting in Bali, U.S. Secretary of State
John Kerry
and Russian Foreign Minister
Sergei Lavrov
expressed their satisfaction with efforts to destroy chemical weapons in Syria, which a team of experts from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons at The Hague and the U.N. began on Sunday. Just more than a week earlier, the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution ordering the stockpiles' elimination.

"It's a good beginning and we should welcome a good beginning," Mr. Kerry said on the sidelines of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings, adding that he was very pleased with the speed of the process.

"We agreed again that there is no military solution here and we share an interest in not having radical extremists on either side of any kind assuming a greater status or position in Syria," he said.

Under a deal brokered in September by the U.S. and Russia, Syria agreed to give up its chemical weapons in a process aimed at eradicating Damascus's 1,000-metric-ton stockpile by the middle of next year. According to the Security Council's decision, Syria's ability to make chemical weapons is supposed to be removed by Nov. 1.

Following an Aug. 21 chemical-weapons attack in a Damascus suburb that killed hundreds of people, the U.S. threatened to strike government targets to degrade its ability to deploy chemical weapons.

A U.N. investigation confirmed that sarin gas was used in the attack. While the U.N. didn't assign blame, the U.S. and its allies contend the Syrian government was behind the massacre. Syria and its allies Russia and Iran say opposition forces were responsible for the attack, in an attempt to incriminate the Syrian government and trigger U.S. intervention.

The U.N. seeks to host a meeting between the warring parties in Geneva in mid-November. Mr. Lavrov said there aren't grounds to expect the Syrian government to pull out of the proposed talks. He expressed Russia's fear that extremist elements in the wider opposition movement were trying to undermine the peace effort and escalate a conflict that has so far killed more than 100,000 people after a pro-democracy uprising turned into a broader, often sectarian, battle.

Mr. Lavrov said he has asked the U.S. to help ensure that members of the various opposition groups fighting against the Syrian government also attend the Geneva meeting. The rebels, a mixture of democrats and hard-line Islamists, haven't been able to agree on a delegation to send to the planned talks.

It seems that Kerry and Lavrov lauded Assad for accepting the destruction of the chemical weapons.I don`t remember that the Nazis and Japanese were lauded for accepting redition. How low can go the hypocrisy with Kerry ?

This article got me thinking. I think we are getting tired of watching Johnn Kerry attack every windmill in the world as he tries to expunge the L blazened into his ample forehead. Contrast this with Hillary Clinton, who maintained an aloof State Department, until it was clear that her lack of engagement was actually abdication. I guess this is what you get when mis-directed ambition replaces core competence.

Apparently the Obama-Kerry position is willingness to lock in the military advance achieved by Bashar al Assad, and to allow the sectarian fight to evolve into a bitter struggle between Sunni Arab radical Islamists such as al Qaaeda affiliates, and more tolerant Sunni Arab rebels. With such a division, the Shiite Islamists of the IRGC and of Hezbollah can claim victory with a cease-fire.

Neither Israel, Saudi Arabia, nor Turkey will be happy with this.....but they can pound sand. Beware of having Obama and Lurch as friends.

Mark this one down as another win for Putin. So Assad is starting to destroy chemical wapons which until a week or so ago he denied existed. So how precisely will they know when they have all been destroyed, one asume sthe "1,000 metric ton supply" is a guess or what Assad admits he has.

And Putin wants the US to get all the rebels to a conference knowing full well the jihadis will never go and then they can claim the rebels are the obstacles to peace and Assad will get to stay in power in the part of Syria he controls. While the rebels will be left holding a grab bag of separated territory which has been bombed and shelled into ruins.

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